Hope
by bluegoldrose
Summary: What happens with Ellie after 'LA Brass? read and see [bad summary]finished! crosses with my fic Before Me
1. Chapter 1

Hopeless, that's how she felt every time she woke up, every time she looked in the mirror, every time she got high or had sex with another man. She looked at herself in the mirror again and she hated what she saw. She wanted to get high to forget the pain, but she knew that wouldn't happen because her dealer had been arrested the day before. And of course her best friend was dead too.

She decided to take a walk, she didn't care where to, she didn't even care if she walked straight into the sea and drowned. She opened her door, and she saw something setting there. She picked it up and she saw the present her father had left there that night. It was a mug with candy and a bear in it, and there was a card with it too. It was a business card for a rehab clinic, on the back was a message from her father.

Her eyes started to fill as she went inside. She sat down on her bed and stared at the card for a long time. Then she started to cry.

"_You're nothing but plumbing…"_ The words kept resounding in her mind. They were her father's words, and as much as they had hurt, they were true.

"_You need to get help, why can't you admit it?"_ She asked her self. _"If I keep doing this I'll die. Right now I'm worthless; I could have been anything. Fine, I'll go, I can't keep doing this, I need to change."_

So she took a shower and she decided to go to the address on the card. She didn't wear makeup; she didn't see the point.

She walked in the door of the clinic, and she walked up to the desk.

"May I help you," the receptionist asked.

"Um, yeah, I was given this card to get help."

"Do you want to check yourself in to our drug rehab program?"

"Uh, yes. You see, I don't know if I want to or not, but I really need to change, because my life sucks right now."

The woman smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry, we can help you. If you'll just fill out this form, we'll have one of our doctors talk to you."

"Thanks."

So she did, and then she was checked into the clinic. She didn't like it there at first, but after awhile she felt more comfortable there. She didn't like group therapy, but not many people do. She even started to become friends with people there. Nobody pushed her too hard; in fact she pushed herself the hardest. By the end of a few months she was an entirely different person.

When she got out she moved into another apartment, although it was still low-income, she felt far more comfortable there. She even got a job as a waitress in a nicer restaurant.

About a month after she got out on her own, she got a summons from the court about Dakota's case. Ellie was surprised that it was actually going to court, given the highly damaging nature of the case, but she decided to go. She was afraid of going so she did the one thing she never liked to do, she called her father.

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TBC...

I wrote this because I thought Ellie deserves to be better : )

please R&R


	2. Chapter 2

Brass picked up the phone when it rang, and he said hello.

"Hello, dad, it's me, Ellie."

"Ellie, what's wrong, what do you need?" He asked in a panicked voice.

"No, nothing's wrong, I just needed to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you come down here to see me? I was given a summons for Dakota's case, and I'm kinda scared."

"Sure Ellie, I can come down."

"Good, thanks. Oh, and I've moved, here, I'll tell you the address ok?"

"Alright," he replied, and then he wrote down the address to her new apartment.

"Ok, that's all, I'll see you then."

"Ok, goodbye Ellie. I'll see you soon."

"Bye dad, thanks."

"It's no problem."

So they hung up, and Brass was genuinely puzzled about Ellie's change of character. His superior reluctantly gave him a few weeks off, and then he went off to LA to see Ellie.

He drove down the address that she had given him. He was surprised that the neighborhood was so much nicer than her last one. He went into the apartment complex, and he knocked on her door. She answered it shortly thereafter, and she smiled at him. He was amazed. Her hair was nicely curled around her face, and she was wearing a normal outfit, she even smiled at him.

"Ellie, you're different."

"I know. I went to the clinic that was on the card you left me. They changed my life. I was waiting until I was totally on my feet until I called you, but since the summons came I needed to see you sooner."

"It's ok," he said, he was getting emotional.

"Do you want to come in? I can get you something to drink if you want, nonalcoholic of course, because I'm trying to get clean."

"Sure, do you have orange juice?"

"Yep, I'll get you some, why don't you take a seat," she said as she headed into the kitchen.

"Ok." He went in and sat down. He looked around, it was a scarcely decorated place with not much of anything in it, but it was a nice place. She came back in a minute later and she handed him a glass, she had a cup of water for herself.

"So, what do you think of my new life?"

"I'm proud of you Ellie, you're actually going down a new track."

"I know, I needed to make some changes in my life, and well, I've figured out what I want out of life now, I'm not trying to destroy myself anymore."

"That's good."

"I decided that I want to help out people like me in the clinic. They're willing to help me get the classes I need to work there, and then I'll be in a real job where I can make a difference."

"I always knew that you could Ellie."

"Thank you."

"Now, about that summons, what do you need my help with?"

"I'm scared, I don't feel safe because of who he is. I'm afraid that I'll be killed or something."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be here to protect you."

"Thank you dad. So, do you want to help me know how to sound like I know what I'm talking about out there?"

"Sure honey."

* * *

TBC...

Thanks to the people who reviewed..csifreak04, CSI Kennedy, P. S. L. Szmanda,


	3. Chapter 3

Ellie and Brass worked on how she should talk and act in court until the day of the hearing. She was questioned harshly, and the fact that she had been a stripper was used viciously against her, as were other facts about her past. She was firm in all of her responses though, and she managed to get through it all very bravely.

After her testifying was over, Brass went back to Vegas. While the case was being deliberated, she worked as hard as possible to get through the stress of it. The verdict was guilty, and she was very relieved, although the city was in shock over the entire ordeal.

About a month after the court decision was finalized, Ellie realized that she was low on money and her rent was due. She weighed the decisions in her mind and she found only one option, she decided to go back on the street for a night to get the rent money. She knew that she would regret it, but she needed to pay her rent. So she dressed in one of her old outfits, and she went down to her old street and she picked up a few guys.

She made the rent, but she felt sick because she knew that she had messed up again. She figured out how much money she could spend and still pay off her bills, and then she went to a liquor store and she bought what she could afford. Afterwards she went back to her apartment and she got drunk. She was doing it to kill the pain, but it made things worse for her because she was going against all that she had wanted to change.

She managed to pass out on her sofa, and when she woke up it was already about two in the afternoon. She was massively hung over, but she needed to go to work, so she took a fast shower and she left.

She didn't mess up any of her orders at work, but she did have a massive headache and a very low self esteem that day. When her shift was over she went down to the clinic and she cried to her support group. They helped her out, and they suggested that she get a roommate to share her apartment with.

That evening Ellie sent in an ad to the newspaper advertising that she wanted a roommate. By the end of the week she started to get offers, but none of them interested her. Then, two weeks later, Ellie found the person she wanted to have as a roommate. Her name was Roxie Carmichael, and she was a very nice person.

Roxie had just graduated from Stanford University in San Francisco and she had moved to Los Angeles to become a chemical analyst at the crimelab. Roxie had blue hair, and she got along instantly with Ellie, so they became roommates.

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TBC...

I thought that she needed some drama, thanks to the reviewer who suggested it!

For those of you reading Before Me, yes this is the same Roxie, I like her character so I thought she would work well as Ellie's friend : )

Thanks for the reviews they keep me writing! CSI Kennedy, Lalenna, csifreak04


	4. Chapter 4

Roxie was a major help to Ellie in giving her confidence and helping her to go on the right path. Sure Ellie still had problems in her life, but she was better, she had a purpose and a goal.

Within the year she managed to get the credits she needed to help at the clinic, which meant that she could now have that as her full time job. Over time, Roxie and Ellie both could afford to live separately, but they were good friends and they enjoyed the company.

They also were astounded when they learned that they both had connections to the crime lab in Las Vegas. Ellie because of her father and Roxie because of her college roommate and best friend Lydia Michaels, who worked in the lab itself. So when they were invited to the wedding of Catherine and Grissom and then the wedding of Lydia and Greg they went to them both. Of course all of Brass' friends were amazed by how much Ellie had changed, and she was very happy about it.

While at the wedding, they found two guys who were attracted to them as well. Jake Thomas was a very handsome man, and he was not much older than Ellie; after they talked for awhile, they started dating. Roxie found a man named Warrick Brown, and they too hit it off very well. Jake was also the nephew of Catherine Willows, and he was a high school teacher.

After the two couples had dated for awhile, they were married in a double wedding in Las Vegas, where the women had moved the year after they had met their loves. Ellie became a counselor in Vegas, and Roxie went to work at the crimelab.

Of course there were difficulties in their lives, but that's the way life is, but they were happy. The best part though, was that Ellie had found hope.

The End

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I know that it's a very quick end to the story, but I didn't know what to do beyond this, so I decided to cross it into my fic. Before Me, which will reach this point shortly, but since I know a couple of you read this and that one as well I figured I may as well do it now...

Thanks for the reviews, and if I had some clue of where else this story could have gone I would have made it better for you guys! CSI Kennedy, csifreak04


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